Wages rose at the slowest pace in three months, with real pay extending its falling streak, highlighting a challenge for newly elected ruling party leader Sanae Takaichi, who has pledged to address the increase in living costs.
Nominal wages increased 1.5% in August from a year earlier, decelerating from 3.4% in the previous month, according to a report by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on Wednesday. That was below economist expectations. Real cash earnings dropped 1.4%, marking an eighth month of declines and also coming in weaker than expected.
Economists had forecast nominal gains of 2.7%, expecting a slowdown in bonuses after the previous month’s jump. Bonuses fell 10.5% as fewer companies distributed additional pay in August, according to the labor ministry. A more stable measure of pay, which avoids sampling issues and excludes bonuses and overtime, climbed 2.4% for a second month for regular workers.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.